Considering purchasing a Robo 3D

Hello Everyone,

I have been researching 3D printers for a while and it has come down to 2 printers that are in my price range. Robo 3d is one of them. I like what I have seen so far as far as the print quality and ease of use. What are some of the pros and cons (if any) of owning a Robo 3D? I am thinking about going with the PLA version for now.

Thanks

 

Hi Mike. I'd suggest getting the ABS version. Having the heated bed can really help with PLA prints too.

There are pros and cons with any printer. Some of the Pros with the Robo 3D include 1) a large print volume, one of the largest in the industry in relation to its cost. 2) Open source so when things do go wrong getting replacement parts is fairly easy and 3) large user base of people who are willing to help each other be successful

Some cons of the Robo 3D are 1) cheap screws -- or at least it feels that way. They strip fairly easily which is frustrating. 2) No heated build chamber (for ABS) which would be a huge positive. and 3) tendency of the stock hot-end to plug up, especially if the PTFE tube cracks, which is happening fairly commonly.

Good thing is a common upgrade for the hot-end is to go to an all-metal hot-end such as the E3D, which is outstanding. This removes any PTFE tube inside the hot-end so you'll never get a cracked PTFE tube. This will also allow you to begin printing using other materials and not just PLA and ABS but also nylon.

Take a look at the Robo 3D User's FAQ which is at http://lele.io/robo3dfaq

 

Get the abs.

It requires a little work to get dialed in...but which one doesnt? Its very easy to work on and simple to dial in. Its an amazing machine...i would easily say best in class. Best forum as well! Anything you need help with...these guys and gal WILL get you going quick.

 

Thanks for the replies. I am not sure that I can swing the other 100 right now, it's stretching the budget a little too much. I am also wanting to get a stand alone controller. My wife handles the budget and the PLA version, controller and filament is about all I can get.. But hey, At least ill have a 3d printer..

 

True. You can always add a heated bed and such later, though it probably won't be Robo's. You'd have to go third party until Robo gets an upgrade kit together.

 

What is this about the PTFE tube cracking and the hot end getting plugged up. I am looking into buying the robo as well, but. I have no idea what a PTFE tube is and don't really know how to upgrade to an E3D, nor do. I want to try that. Can you help me out with what this PTFE problem is.

 

The PTFE tube is a little plastic-like tube that sits inside the hot end. With the current Robo hot end, it often gets clogged up, and is very hard to clear - in my case, I ended up breaking the PTFE tube entirely trying to get it out, and my choices were to buy a new PTFE tube which would just clog again, or to get an E3D.

Upgrading to the E3D is really not hard at all - all you need is some very basic knowledge of how to solder (I am NOT an electronics expert at allllll and I found it very easy) and an evening to do it. Someone who had done it once could do it in about an hour.

Or you can wait until the Robo changes over to the all-metal hot end. But honestly, as long as you're not a complete moron and you're willing to read some instructions, putting on the E3D is easy.

 

Any tips on how to not break the tube? I will probably just wait and see if my tube ever breaks and then think about purchase the E3D, then i would have to look into how to solder and all that stuff.

 

Printers shipping now no longer have the problematic hot end.

The issue is their supplier was over tightening the grub screw that held the ptfe tube in place, and when thermally cycled causes cracks to form which eventually leads to leakage.

The new ones should be better

 

Be prepared to tinker until you start getting nice prints (which may mean spending more money on upgrades to fix issues ...so if your tight on budget that's something to consider) Even the newer versions (which I haven't heard starting shipping yet) may still have problems.. They are slowly working out the kinks.

That being said I've owned one myself and put additional money into it... so it would print out of the box. Once the problems were worked out it printed fine..

Still waiting on word for when they start shipping the new versions.....

 

Hi I'm Drew I work with Robo3D. We have actually gone even further than just this fix we are now supplying a new hotend with the printers that has a better PTFE tube, manufactured in the US, that will hopefully eliminate the clogging problem all together.

 

Hey Drew, is there any move to going with an all metal hot end? The E3D upgrade has worked great for me as well as others


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Are there any other upgrades happening to the printer that will happen soon that i should wait for before purchasing?

 

If you are fine with waiting, we are currently working on an upgrade list that can be seen in this forum. http://forums.robo3dprinter.com/ind...ear-motion-system-and-print-bed-upgrade.1669/

I don't want to make any promises but we are currently looking towards an all metal hotend. Our main focus is keeping costs down for you guys as the customer. The metal hotend is something that we hope to achieve.